Jack and the House
by Laraeliae Black
Summary: A girl named Rae moved into her own house, unfortunetly next to a bar. Jack stumbles in one night accidentally, and meets her from there. From the author who brought you Tavern Girl, before it was deleted.
1. The House

Bear with the background at the beginning, the story gets better after the intro… if it looks it's familiar, it's because it used to be one of my "you" stories, and was deleted, but I liked the plot line in my mind so I decided to rewrite it. Enjoy, and please R&R!

Rae's elderly grandfather died over six months ago, and he had left his property and finances under control of her father, with the request that she be bought a house. She had always dreamed of having one, and now, it was finally hers. The deed had been signed that afternoon. The seller tried to persuade her father out of it, for it was almost unheard of for a twenty-four year old single woman to have her own house. Her father was still mad about Rae's treatment of her last fiancée, so he actually agreed to her moving out. And so, it happened.

The house was barely furnished, and slightly small. But it did have a basement. As Rae now looked around, she recalled how her father said he had put several presents down there for when she got lonely.

The house had a small stable it the back as well, which is what made her fall in love with the house in the first place. She loved horses, so a stable was the perfect place to house her chestnut mare. She was paid quite well by the governor and other titled persons to carry messages and/or packages to and from towns on her horse. That money she made, and had saved, would be able to go into her house now. Not that she had a lot of time. Finally moving out of her parents' house, she had gotten a job from one of the wealthiest women in town, Mrs. Mainman. But she would be a governess for her children. Not exactly glamorous. But, she needed to be self-supporting, and this was the only thing that would do so for the moment.

Rae watched the door as her father and mother exited the house, finally leaving her alone. She savored the silence, as her parents could be boisterous sometimes, and picked up the pistol on her bookshelf. The room was slightly empty, but she didn't mind much. What she lacked in furniture, she made up in books. She had everything, from Anne Bradstreet's anthologies of poetry to Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe. They were mostly presents from her parents, but every once in a while the cute bookshop keeper whom she was fond of gave her a present. She polished the pistol in her hand, made a mental note to practice with it tomorrow, and then placed it down on the table. Although no woman she knew shot or carried a pistol, her father insisted she did, for some reason.

Actually, she knew the real reason he had insisted it; the house had one flaw. It was situated right next to a bar. The Dancing Devil, no less. Every night, off key notes were sung, brawls instigated, and at the extremely late hours of night, drunks were expelled, free to roam the town. She had hoped it wouldn't be much of a problem, but now she felt that she might have been a little too naive. She pulled aside the curtain peeked out her window- dusk was setting in- and watched the rough crowd piling into the bar. She closed the curtains, shuddering slightly. To take her mind off of the uncomfortable feeling, she lit a candle and placed it on the stand next to her chair. Then she took one of her favorite books off of her shelf, The Canterbury Tales, and read it in her chair, until when in the late hours of the night, she fell asleep with the book still in her hands.

A large slam of the door awoke her with a start. She gazed around, evaluating the situation. The candle had long since burnt out, and it was still dark, so she knew it must be late. "I must have fallen asleep reading!" she thought. "And forgotten the lock the door." She grabbed her pistol, which happened to be sitting on the table. She couldn't hear anything more, so she just stood there, unable to move with fear. The room's door opened, and she could see the silhouette of a man. A very drunk man who could barely stand up straight. She calmly pointed the gun at him.

"'Ello, luv," the man said smoothly.

"Get out of my house." She said it as harshly as she could, but her voice sounded kind of shaky and high pitched. The man took another step towards her.

She cocked the gun. The man glanced over, swayed back and forth a few times, and then collapsed. She walked over the body, unsure what had happened. She hadn't pulled the trigger. As she glanced at him, she noticed his chest was still rising and falling, so he wasn't dead. Just thoroughly inebriated she guessed. Not wanting to have a drunken man in her house all night, she uncocked the gun, put it on the table, and rolled up her sleeves. She grabbed the man's boots, and tried to drag him out. He was heavier than he looked. But, after about fifteen minutes, she had him out of her house, on the doorstep. She kind of felt bad for dumping him outside; he was kind of handsome. She wiped the dirt from her hands, shut the door, and locked it. She couldn't help thinking about the visitor, who didn't seem to want to hurt her. Little did she know, she would be seeing a lot of him in the future.

She awoke early the next morning, before dawn, her neck sore from the position she fell asleep in. She massaged it gently, and recalled the events of last night. She groaned, thinking about the drunken man. She got up, and put on her riding habit. She walked into her foyer, and paused slightly as her hand graced the handle of the front door. To open, or not? It wouldn't do for a noble person, trying to get her to deliver something, to come and see the drunkard passed out on her step. People would talk. She sighed inaudibly, and opened it. The man was still there, face down. She nudged him gently with her foot, and rolled him on his back. He groaned loudly, and his eyes fluttered open, revealing very chocolate brown eyes. She smiled. Even in the dim light of the sun that was rising as she stood there, Rae could see that he was grungy, sandy, and miskept, but his eyes were beautiful, normal. He sat up, and she wiped the smile from her face before he could see it, for even though his eyes were fascinating, she had no idea what type of person he was. The man looked dazed for a few moments, and then held out his hand.

Rae stared at it for several moments, hesitant to do anything. "Darling," he said, "Beg your pardon, are you going to stand there all day or help me up?"

Her eyebrows rose as she took it, and he pulled himself up. "Thanks." He saw her utterly bewildered face. "Do us a favor, and tell me, what am I doing here?"

She finally found her voice. "You actually barged in my house last night, drunk. You passed out on my floor."

He scratched the side of his face. "Hmm. Terribly sorry about that, luv. How did I get out here, on your step? Did you throw me out?" She nodded. "That's interesting."

"My name is Rae." The man smiled.

"Is that so? Captain Jack Sparrow, if you please." He reached for her hand, and tried to kiss it, but she pulled it away before he could bring it up to his lips.

"Hardly proper, Captain Sparrow. I barely know you."

He grinned impishly. "I couldn't resist. I didn't scare you last night, did I? I really am sorry about that, I had a rough night."

"Well, a mite. I almost shot you, you know?"

"And I thought that was a dream. I must have been even more drunk than usual." He bent over and picked up his tricorner hat of the ground, dusted it off, and placed it on his head. She took in the full effect of him for the first time, and placed things together.

"You're . . . a pirate!"

"Thank you for informing me." He brushed the dust off of his breeches. "I swear, you town folk are all the same."

"I resent that remark."

He shrugged. "I'll inform the King."

The sun was starting to rise even higher, time had sure flown by past!

"You must excuse me, Captain, it will soon be morn, and I must tend to my horse, and my duties."

"You mean that you people will be up soon, and you don't want them to see us together," he said softly.

Okay, he's dashing and smart. "That's part of it, Captain Sparrow. People talk." She receded back into her doorway, and was the process of closing her door when Jack stopped it with his hand.

"You won't be getting away that easily, milady." He then released his hand and walked off, leaving her to shut the door, in a slight state of shock by his brazenness.

I love dialog. Jack is just so darn witty. And I love that I just finished all of my college applications. But about this story… like it? Love it? Hate it? Please tell me!


	2. Jack in the Basement

The rest of the day progressed uneventfully. After tending to her horse, Rae changed into 'proper clothing,' and spent the morning and afternoon tending to Mrs. Mainman's bratty children. She walked home, and briefly watched children rolling hoops in the town square. After entering her house, she realized that she hadn't eaten anything all day. She grabbed a flagon of mead out of her cupboard, as well as a small loaf of barley bread and a piece salted pork. After she had set the table for herself, she grabbed the Canterbury Tales, and read it with her meal. Eating as slowly as possible, Rae savored the silence that reigned. By the end of her meal, it was getting to be dark, so she lit candles for light. She sat down in your regular chair, and opened up her book to read, when she heard the front door open. She got up quickly, and reached for her pistol, when she heard a voice.

"Luv, it's just me." Jack's voice, to be more specific.

"Jack," she whispered, slightly upset that he should give her such a scare, "What in blazes are you doing here?"

"Tisk, tisk, Rae. A lass like you shouldn't be using such language."

"Captain Sparrow, you still haven't answered my question."

"Oh, Captain now, is it? Just a moment ago I was just Jack. . ."

"You caught me off guard, okay?"

"Hmm." He fingered several books on your bookshelf, inspecting the names. "Guess I should catch you off guard more often, eh?"

"Captain, why are you here? I mean, in my house?"

"Oh, yes, that." He put down Paradise Lost, and finally gave her a direct answer. "I actually need a place to stay," he paused, "just for tonight, of course."

"Why?" It was more of a demand than a question.

"I got in a slight brawl with a man at the tavern tonight, and the keeper threw me out. It just so happens that his brother owns the local inn, so I was banned from there as well. Please?" His eyes widened.

She had always had problems saying 'no' to just about everyone.

"Okay, but you must stay in the cellar. There is an extra feather mattress down there, and several blankets. And you have to leave early tomorrow morning so no one thinks. . ."

"That we're together?"

"Exactly," she said, and motioned for Jack to go downstairs. He walked over to the cellar door, opened it, and peeked down.

"I'm going to be so awfully lonely down there, Rae. . ."

"No, Mister Sparrow. Go, now please."

"Alright, luv, but if you get scared you know where to find me," he said with a smirk.

As he shut the door behind him, she smiled in spite of herself. But she wouldn't be smiling tomorrow when she would see the mess Captain Jack Sparrow had caused.

Rae awoke early the next morning. "Perfect," she thought, "I can still get rid of Jack before anyone can see him." She got dressed and went towards the door of the cellar. As she swung it open, she wrinkled her nose. The stench of the room was familiar… alcohol maybe? Braving what she might find downstairs, she grabbed a candle and started down the stairs. Somehow, what she found didn't really surprise her. One Jack Sparrow, sleeping in a chair, with several liquor bottles littered around the room. …She stopped when she suddenly realized where he had gotten the drinks from. They were the ones her father left downstairs as a "house warming" present. And she was just sure that Jack drank every single last one. For some reason though, she wasn't very mad at all. She shook Jack with one hand, and held the candle up with the other. "Jack, wake up," she whispered.

He stirred, opened one eye, said, "Too bright," and promptly blew out the candle. The room was completely dark. Rae stared at her hand dumbfounded, but Jack couldn't see this due to the lack of light.

Rae groaned. "Now I can't see a bloody thing. Jack, are you at least awake now?"

"Yeah." She could hear him getting up and brushing himself off. "Sorry about that, but yeh just can't go waving light about in my face in the morning."

"Oh, pardon me, your highness," Rae sarcastically shot back. "I should have just come tripping down the stairs in the dark looking for you. Any other requests next time?"

He laughed. "You could do with a little more to drink, and a little softer floor."

Now Rae was starting to get a little mad. How could he come in here, use her house to sleep in, drink all of her liquor, and then make a joke about it? "That's it, Sparrow. Get out. Now." Rae blindly made her way to the staircase. "And don't ever come back." Jack silently followed her up the staircase and into the kitchen. The sun had started rising.

"Right then," he licked his dry lips, "We'll just sort this all out later, eh?" He put the hat back on his head, and left out the back door, leaving Rae slightly mad, and ready to go to work.

* * *

_A/N: Thanks to all who reviewed: **Flute Damio, CptAlbertWesker,fairy pwincess, Thousand Faces, Gunpowder McGrady, Spot's Girl, Clueless-Patty, Kaylakoo, DugaDugabowbow, and missjackiesparrow**._

_**Flute Damio**: Thank you, and sorry this one took so long...  
**CptAlbertWesker**: Yeah, I was upset a little about Tavern Girl, but I knew a lot of other "you" stories that were really Mary Sue, even if mine wasn't.  
**fairy pwincess**: Hope you like this one!  
**Thousand Faces**: Merci beaucoup!  
**Gunpowder McGrady, Spot's Girl**: (I do hope I typed your name right) Thank you as well!  
**Clueless-Patty**: Here's the next one... hope you like it.  
**Kaylakoo**: Actually, she's not in Port Royal or Tortuga, I wanted to keep my options open for the setting. Plus, I didn't want to pick Tortuga since there are so many fics that already are set there. Oh, could you give me the address for this mediaminer thing?  
**DugaDugabowbow**: Thanks, I try to at least write semi-smoothly!  
**missjackiesparrow**: You don't realize how much this means to me... I have trouble trying Jack to sound and act "Jackish," so it's nice to hear that I'm succeeding at least a little. Every once in a while I think of something witty that he would say... I liked that line too. :)_

_And sorry this one took so long to get up... I've had it written for quite a while, but last time I tried to put it up the server was down.Once again, thanks for all who reviewed!  
Laraelaie Black_


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